New Zealand’s Chicken & Couscous Salad
Top recipes from HelloFresh markets around the world
- Wheat
- Tree Nuts
- Eggs
In honor of the summer games, we’re going global with this gold medal winner from HF New Zealand! Go the distance with this fresh, savory salad bowl that starts with springy, tender couscous. You’ll stir in fresh spinach and sweet roasted carrots, then top with succulent seared chicken seasoned with savory spices. Finish with a sprinkle of toasted walnuts and a creamy drizzle of garlic aioli.
Ingredients
2.5 ounce
Israeli Couscous
(Contains: Wheat)
2 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
½ ounce
Walnuts
(Contains: Tree Nuts)
9 ounce
Carrots
10 ounce
Chicken Cutlets
1 tablespoon
Fry Seasoning
2 tablespoon
Mayonnaise
(Contains: Eggs)
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
2.5 ounce
Spinach
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
2 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• In a small pot (medium pot for 4 servings), combine couscous, stock concentrates, 3⁄4 cup water (11⁄2 cups for 4), and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until tender, 12-14 minutes. • Keep covered off heat until ready to use in Step 6.
• While couscous cooks, heat a large dry pan over medium-high heat. Add walnuts and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2-3 minutes. • Turn off heat; transfer to a plate. Wipe out pan.
• Wash and dry produce. • Trim, peel, and cut carrots on a diagonal into 1⁄2-inch-thick pieces. • Heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for walnuts over medium-high heat. Add carrots and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and tender, 5-7 minutes. • Turn off heat; transfer to a second plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Wipe out pan.
• Pat chicken* dry with paper towels. Rub all over with a drizzle of oil and Fry Seasoning. Season with salt and pepper. • Heat pan used for carrots over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned and cooked through, 3-5 minutes per side. TIP: Lower heat if chicken begins to brown too quickly. • Transfer chicken to a cutting board.
• While chicken cooks, in a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and half the garlic powder (all for 4 servings). • Add water 1 tsp a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
• Fluff couscous with a fork; stir in spinach and roasted carrots until combined. • Cut chicken into bite-size pieces. • Divide couscous between shallow bowls. Top with chicken and sprinkle with toasted walnuts. Drizzle with aioli and serve.
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the unique combination of flavors, finding it delicious and surprisingly flavorful 🎉.
- Ease of prep: Quick and easy to make, though some found mixing ingredients in a small pot challenging.
- Suggestions: Consider rough chopping the spinach and using a larger pot for easier mixing.
- Leftovers: Some found it even better the next day; others preferred it fresh.
- Texture: Customers enjoyed the mix of crunchy carrots, tender couscous, and fresh spinach.
- Sauce: While many liked the aioli, some suggested adding lemon juice or using a different dressing for more zing.
Reviews from our home cooks
I loved everything about this - the fry seasoning that was mild but gave the chicken some flavor, spinach as the salad base instead of just lettuce, flavoring the couscous with stock and NOT having to worry about the sodium level, adding the nuts for crunch/texture, being able to enjoy a creamy dressing that was easy to make and not too fatty (and not the same old Italian or Greek or plain vinaigrette)...! I did add some shallot to my roasted carrots and some pencil asparagus that I needed to use up. Delicious, looking forward to the leftovers!
Quick meal to make and full of flavor. I diced the chicken up after it was cooked and added to the veggie and couscous mixture to make it easier to share and give tastes to others.
Easy and tasty recipe. First time trying this, but great for summer and lots of flavor. Recommend fixing the recipe to use a medium pot for couscous to have room for carrots and spinach.
I wilted the spinach in the couscous pot and ate this more like a bowl than a salad. It was good! Also I doubled the garlic powder for the aioli to get the level of flavor that I wanted.
It was good, but the amount of couscous vs salad was unbalanced. Needs more greens.
So good and so filling! I didn't toss the spinach with the couscous and carrots though because I didn't want to wilt the spinach. Instead I layered the spinach first with a drizzle of aioli. Then topped with couscous and carrots, chicken and walnuts. Then drizzled with remaining aioli.
Such a surprising combination. I hate cooked spinach, but keeping the spinach raw with the warm carrots and couscous was wonderful. Would definitely order again!
Also shocked by how amazing this was! Pro tip: if you add a squirt of the chicken stock to the sauce its soooo good
I LOVED this recipe! It was strange at first with all of those different textures in my mouth, but it was an awesome mix!
This recipe was delicious but definitely missed an opportunity with the sauce. I added sour cream and used lemon juice instead of water, and the brightness really added a lot to the recipe that would've been missed without the lemon juice.
